Last update 7 May, 2021 by Alberto Llopis
In the absence of two weeks for the list of summoned for the European Championship to be announced 2021, The presence of Karim Benzema in the French team is considered ruled out for many experts due to the position that coach Didier Deschamps has always maintained.
Benzema's current state would not be enough to convince Didier Deschamps
Real Madrid continues in the unlikely fight to save the season with a double. After a tie (1-1) in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals against Chelsea, the merengue team won this weekend against Osasuna (2-0) to keep your league title aspirations alive, currently staying two points behind the leader, Atlético de Madrid. In these last two games, Karim Benzema contributed his grain of sand with a goal and an assist.
This is just a small sample of what the French player has been doing at Real Madrid in recent times.. However, unless something out of the ordinary happens, his extraordinary performance will not be enough to convince Didier Deschamps and enter the list of the 23 (or even 26) players who will represent France at the European Championship to be held this summer . Because? The French coach is based on the sexual scandal of a few years ago, in which the footballer Mathieu Valbuena was also involved.
Experts disagree with Didier Deschamps
The debate on the call (or not) of Karim Benzema with the French team is in all the media. The last public statement on this issue has been that of Louisa Necib, analyst at BeInSports France and former Lyon player: “I put Benzema on my list because I judge him solely by his athletic performance.. He deserves to be widely in this French team ".
Besides, Karim Benzema occupied the front pages of the main newspapers in the Spanish capital last week. Due to his state of form, the newspaper AS has even talked about the possibility of awarding the Ballon d'Or to the Madrid player this season.
Given the statistics (almost 30 goals this season), it doesn't seem like something really crazy. However, his absence from the European Championship will slow him down in the race for world recognition. For this reason, sports journalists have launched the debate that has been going on for so many years in France: Should Benzema go to the Eurocup?
What is clear is that the final list of players called up for the Eurocup will define the favorites to win the most important trophy in Europe at the national team level.. In fact, in bookmakers like Betiton , We will be able to see the evolution of the quotas for the Eurocup according to the final lists of summoned.
Arsène Wenger would trade Deschamps for Zidane
Known for its tranquility, Arsène Wenger is not a regular on controversial topics. However, The former Arsenal manager has not hesitated to talk about Karim Benzema's situation in the French national team, that has not been summoned since 2015: "It is not due to his football quality, but to something that I do not know. Benzema fully deserves to play the Eurocup. In any other selection, would be summoned. It is an extra sport problem. He has been a starter in the Real Madrid for more than 10 years. Many players cannot say the same ”.
In theory, Benzema's return required a change of coach. Arsène Wenger would be delighted that the Real Madrid coach, Zinedine Zidane, replace Didier Deschamps: "Yeah. He has already said several times that he would like to coach the national team, so it's not hard for me to imagine. I hope it continues to be successful, because what he has done for football is magnificent ".